Fulminata
by WesternNorth
Summary: In the times of past the Roman Empire was the greatest force in the world. That time is long past. But one group will do anything to cause it to return. Fulminata. And Lok, Ethan, Tomas, Sophie, Alice, Phoebe, Dante, Zhalia will have to fight it.
1. Chapter 1

Fulminata:

Storm Front

A/N: I've got this idea from when I started playing a James Bond, and I thought that maybe I could have the Huntik team as spies. No magic, no Titans, no stuff like that. Just guns, gadgets and hand to hand combat. And car chases, and maybe romance, but I'm not good at that so don't be all excited. Anyway, I also introduced some new main characters along with the classic ones.

Alimos, Greece, Third Person POV...

The building overlooking the sea was plain. Anyone could see. It looked like an office building, maybe a bank. It was eight stories, and grey. Every floor had windows, all tinted. The foyer was plain, with three guards in there. Even the sign was boring. United National Investment Agency. As if anyone would go in there The building was normal, boring and utterly forgettable.

But all of that had been planned. It had been wanted.

This was no office building. The company it supposedly housed was nonexistent. The three guards were ex-Marines from the US. Each one had the capacity to stop, single-handely, ten armed men. The windows were like one-way mirrors and bullet-proof. All of the offices held people who's work was anything but normal.

There was one office in particular that was interesting. According to the floor plans it didn't exist, between the fifth and sixth floors. But it was real and housed the building's most powerful person.

He could've been anywhere between late-thirties to late fifties with grey hair and almost colorless eyes. He looked like a banker and if you saw him in the street you would forget about him instantly. But he did unforgettable did things. He had killed people. They were evil people, people who wanted to kill lots of people one way or another. A few had been mistakes, and he would never forgive himself for their deaths. But now he thought about his new business. One to save the world. He stared out the window, looking at the sea. It didn't appear outside, making him invisible to the people below. That amused him greatly.

In his hands he held six files. Each one was open to the first page, showing a full body picture of each of the teens the file was concerned about. Three girls, three boys.

"Alice, Phoebe, Sophie, Ethan, Tomas, Lok..." The man said absently. He felt another presence in the room. "Are they ready yet?" The question had been asked in ancient Latin, from the time of Caesar.

"Almost ready for the Academy sir." The voice answering belong to a younger man, maybe in his twenties. He answered back fluently.

"Good, good. We may have to speed things along, _Duodecimus Legio Romana _is onto us. I fear that they will make a move shortly. Dante, I want you to go to Venice to prepare for that. Get ready."

"Of course praetor." Dante left the room soundlessly.

The man looked out the window. There was a dark line on the horizon.

A storm was brewing. And this one was _fuliminata_. It was time to prepare.

The greatest storm ever would hit the world. But it may not be seen.

"Fulminata, Armed with Lightning..." The man said as lightning was seen in the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

Fulminata:

Beginning Part One

A/N: Time for our heroes epic journey to begin! I'll be breaking it down, maybe into three parts. It will be super awesome! Hopefully. Maybe. Tell me what you think.

Venice, Italy, Third Person POV...

Lok walked out of the school depressed. Tomorrow was the last day of school, the day of final exams. The exams he would fail.

Lok tried to pay attention during class, he really did. But it was hard. Classes were so boring it was hard to stay awake. Daydreaming was so much more fun. It wasn't his fault, especially if he may or may not have ADHD or something like that.

Lok knew that he needed a tutor, the only problem was finding one that wasn't too busy. Then Lok saw something that signified salvation: a head that had long light brown hair, just visible through the crowd of people. Sophie Casterwill.

Lok began to run trying to catch up, his spirits lifting just at the thought of talking to the English girl...

Sophie Casterwill was walking along slowly, focusing on her crossword puzzle. This particular one was actually very difficult and she couldn't even solve one little part.

"Hey! Wait up!" Sophie stopped and turned to see a boy running towards her. His blond hair was visible, sticking out from underneath his Indiana Jones style hat. He wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled back. Underneath he wore a long sleeve blue shirt. His belt was on at a rakish angle, with a small pouch at the side. He also had a black messenger bag on. The boy's blue eyes glittered.

"Hey, your name's Sophie right?" he asked.

"Yes, Sophie Casterwill," Sophie said, slightly annoyed, focusing on her crossword. "I'm sorry, but have we met before?"

"I'm Lok, I sit behind you in history," the boy said.

"Oh, sorry, I guess I've never noticed," Sophie said.

"I worked with you on the math project, I was in your group in science, I reviewed your story three times in English-" Lok began.

"I get the point Lok. What do you want? You didn't stop me just to tell me that."

"Well, I conked out during today's review, and your the smartest girl in class, so I thought you could help me study for the history exam or could I borrow your notes."

"You seem nice and all but I don't like cheaters."

"Hey, you like crosswords?" Lok asked, noticing the puzzle, and his ticket to academic success.

"It's an exercise to keep my mind sharp," Sophie said annoyed. "You should try it sometime." Usually her insults chased away most boys.

But not Lok, it slid off of him like water slides off a duck's feathers. "If I can finish that puzzle in under two minutes wil you help me study?"

"There's no way you have a better vocabulary than me! Alright Lok, you're on, "Sophie said, confident that the boy would fail.

Less than 1 Minute Later...

"I can't believe this! It's perfect!" Sophie exclaimed, looking at the crossword, filled with all right answers. "You finished it in ninety seconds and didn't even cross out anything!"

"I can't believe it took me ninety seconds!" Lok said in disbelief, thinking he could've done it so much faster. He was walking on a small wall by the canal. "Hey, are you okay with this?"

"Of course Lok, we made a deal."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna force you."

"Don't worry Lok. I always keep my word," Sophie said, stopping and looking at Lok. She then smiled slyly. "On the condition you take that silly hat off!"

"OK, I get it! Lighten up!" Lok exclaimed. "C'mon that's my dorm up there!" He jumped down and started running. Sophie smiled at the sight. "Are you coming or what?"

Lok's Dorm, Venice Italy...

Lok opened the door and let Sophie in. It was nice and pretty big, about four rooms which were a large living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a computer room/library/storage room. The living room had a couch, a couple of chairs, a coffee table, and a TV. Scattered about were paintings, canvases, and puzzles.

Sophie walked to one of the paintings. It didn't look like any painting she had seen before, so it must've been made by someone who wasn't famous. "You paint?"

"No, my roommate Ethan does, and speaking of that..." Lok said, moving towards the bedroom. Inside were two twin size beds. And one was occupied. "Get up Ethan, we have company."

The covers stirred and then were pushed back to reveal a boy of fifteen. He had brown hair that started out darker but had been bleached by the sun. His eyes were the color of coffee and his skin was tan. He had a loose grey T-shirt on and jeans and was taller than Lok. "Who Lok?" He spoke with an Australian accent.

"Me, Sophie Casterwill," Sophie said from the doorway.

Ethan raised his eyebrows, looked at Sophie, then Lok. "It's not that Ethan!" Lok said flustered. "She's helping me study for tommorrow, and you're lucky you got to miss classes for your art trip."

"Yeah, well I should get up anyway. Phoebe will be here soon," Ethan began, then realized his mistake as Lok raised his eyebrows. "She's my model Lok, nothing else!"

"Sure, sure." Lok led Sophie to the living room where he cleared off some stuff then put his books and notebooks down.

Ethan was in the kitchen, making coffee. "Coffee or tea?"

"Coffee for me Eth," Lok called.

"I'll have tea, raspberry if you have it," Sophie said.

Ethan came out with a tray that held four mugs. "Mint coffee for Lok, tea for Sophie, black coffee for me, and green tea for Phoebe," he said, also setting down a thing of sugar and another one with cream.

The doorbell rang and Ethan nswered it to reveal Phoebe. She was tall, only slightly shorter than Lok. She had dark red hair and bright green eyes. She wore jeans and a long white shirt.

"Come on in. Phoebe, this is Sophie Casterwill. Sophie, this is Phoebe Terese," Ethan introduced the pair. "And of course you remember the infamous Lok."

"Hello Sophie. Nice to see you again Lok," she said, her voice soft and with a Swedish accent. Sophie said hi back.

The four spent a companiable forty minutes together. Sophie and Lok studying, Ethan painting Phoebe as she modeled. They would laugh together, even Sophie who found it hard not to around Lok. They ate, and sometimes even talked about their personal lives.

Lok was about to ask Sophie a question he had been dieing to ask for the whole day. He was opening his mouth to say it when the window shattered, and glass sprayed out across the room...

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Fulminata:

Beginning Part Two

A/N: I was actually disappointed by the lack of reviews for my last chapter. Please people, I am begging you, read and review! Thank you JaneEyre0 though for your review. And I apoligize for the long wait.

Lok's Dorm, Venice Italy...

Everything seemed to pause as the four teens watched the glass spray out across the room. A blond haired man wearing sunglasses and a suit burst in, froze in midair. Lok was stuck his eyes wide with shock and terror. His notebook had slid off of his lap, his pencil slowly falling from his grasp. Sophie was in much the same situation, watching with shock as the man slowly entered the room, her book on the floor. Ethan had dropped the jar of paint onto the floor. Phoebe had jumped off of her seat, the stool falling to the ground.

Time unfroze when the man's foot hit the floor. He rolled up to his feet, and when he came up he was holding a gun. "Nobody mo-" he began, but was cut off by a strangled gasp. The gun fell from his grasp and the answer as to why was soon clear; a paint brush was jutting out of the back of the man's wrist.

Ethan was quick to move after that. He knocked the man out and then grabbed the gun, a Torkarev Pistol. He then swung the pistol into the man's head, knocking him out.

Another man burst in, his hair red. Before he said anything his hand moved to his hip. But before he could take out his gun Phoebe had thrown the pot of coffee on his face. The man fell away, screaming.

"Guys, we should leave now!" Ethan yelled, grabbing a bag from the kitchen.

Lok ran into his room, grabbing his messenger bag and throwing some stuff into it. He ran out and witnessed more suits coming in.

"Go, I've got them!" Ethan cried. He grabbed one of them and threw him into the wall, then slamming into the other, while the others slipped through. He followed them as well.

Another suit followed, and fired a gun. But instead of a bullet, a lightning bolt sprang from the gun, missing Ethan by inches.

'What the heck was that? Was that lightning?' Ethan thought as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses which he put on, pressing a near invisible button on the side. He had caught up with the others and had spotted something on the roof.

"Sniper! Down, now!" he yelled pulling them behind two concrete slabs. The bullet hit the top of the slab.

"How did you know there was a sniper there Ethan?" Sophie asked, breathless.

"Sunglasses. They act as binoculars, giving me the coordinates of things and letting me see farther. So I saw the sniper on the roof," Ethan explained.

"Wait, you can get the coordinates of something with those glasses?" Lok asked.

"That's what I said," Ethan replied sharply.

But Lok did not notice. He was busy rummaging through his bag, trying to find something. He pulled out a laptop and a mini catapult like item, with two mini steel balls. He put the catapult on the slab, opened the laptop, and hooked a cord to the laptop then to the catapult. He opened a file and began to type stuff in. He put one of the balls into the bowl on the catapult. "Ethan, what are the coordinates of the scope on the gun?" Ethan read them off and Lok put them in. He hit a key on his laptop and the catapult turned into a sling, moving around very quickly, making a humming noise. After a few seconds, Lok hit a second key, sending the ball flying into the scope.

The sniper drew away quickly as the glass from the front lense of the scope shot by his face.

"His forehead, now!" Lok yelled. Ethan told him the coordinates and a few seconds later, another ball flew out of the catapult incredibly fast. It hit the sniper in the forehead, knocking him out and fracturing his skull.

By the time his teammates found him, the sniper was awake. He had no memory of what happened. When the Suits checked the area the kids were gone.

Third Person's POV, Somewhere in Venice, Italy...

A man walked down the street. He wore green tinted sunglasses, grey pants, a black V-neck sweater with a grey shirt underneath, and a long tan trenchcoat. His auburn hair blew around in the slight breeze. His amber eyes flashed and took in every detail.

A slight tune came from the man's pocket. He took out an iPhone, checked the screen, then answered the call.

"What is it _praetor_?" he answered. The language he answered in sounded like Italian, French and Spanish. But in reality it was neither. It was those languages' ancestor. Latin.

"_Dante. They've made their move. The kids, Lok, Sophie, Ethan and Phoebe are on the move. Go now. Save them Dante," _the voice on the other end of the phone said.

Dante clicked the phone off, and then started running. Dante Vale was on the move. He was a man on a mission.

And Heaven help any fool who tried to stop him.

Abandoned Building, Venice...

Lok closed the door of the buildinng, after being one hundred percent sure that no one had followed them. The room was bare, with only four wooden chairs and a table, with stairs leading up."What do we do know?"

"They're looking for us, for whatever reason," Ethan said, stating the obvious. "With us in a group we're easier to find. So I say we split up."

"We what?" Lok shouted. "That's insane Ethan! You saw what they had! Guns that shot lightning!"

"Maybe. But by splitting up we have a better chance of surviving."

"But what if one of us gets cornered? We'd have no way to help them!"

"But if we split up, there's a better chance of us not being noticed!"

"But if we do we're dead!"

Ethan slammed his fist into the table. "I'm not doing this for fun Lok! I'm doing it to make sure we live!"

Lok backed away, shocked. But then he recovered. "I still don't like it."

Ethan breathed in deeply. "Fine, let's vote on it. Phoebe?"

"I don't wanna do it," was Phoebe's quiet answer. "I don't like it either. But I will if I have no choice."

"Sophie?" The mentioned girl looked up at Lok, his eyes hopeful. "What about you?"

"I'm fine with Ethan's plan. I say we do it," was her answer. Lok looked away, hurt.

"Then let's go," Ethan said, leaving the room. "Let's meet at the park at five o'clock. Everyone give everyone else your number."

After exchanging their numbers the team split up. Sophie, Phoebe, and Ethan went out the door, while Lok went up the stairs. He entered on the roof and looked at the opposite building. A memory flashed through his head.

_Lok was running through a field and coming up was a ten foot wide pit, that was ten feet deep. Lok kept running, then jumped, clearing the pit with millemeters to spare. He lay down on the field past that pit, breathing hard. His training was working._

Lok landed on the other building's roof, barely breathing hard. 'One down, lots to go,' Lok thought.

Ethan was walking into an alley. Two suits were right behind him, thinking they were unnoticed. But Ethan knew they were there, and was well prepared. He soon came to a wall, a dead end.

"End of the road kid," one of the Suits growled.

"Right, for you," Ethan said, spinning around, and shooting the man in the shoulder with his Torkarev gun. The man fell, dropping his gun. The other Suit reached to his own gun, but it was all in vain as a paintbrush, the tip sharp steel, buried itself in his chest, just right of his chest. He dropped.

Ethan grabbed the fallen guns, two HK USPs, full. He emptied the clip of one and put it in his pocket. The gun he kept had a laser sight, so it was all good.

"No one is stopping me."

Sophie was kneeling on a roof, watching the city. She closed her phone, satisfied that her text got through to the others. She got up and began to make her way to her house, where hopefully the others would end up.

"Where are you going little girl?" came a voice from behind her. Sophie turned to see two Suits, one a female with red-brown hair the other male with brown hair.

"I'm sorry, mommy says that I can't talk to strangers," Sophie replied sarcastically. She then spun around and kicked the man in the head, knocking him out. The women brought her gun up to fire, but before she could her head hit the ground, from Sophie throwing her down, hard.

"But she never said I couldn't beat them up."

Phoebe closed her phone, memorizing the address Sophie had sent her. She was only a few blocks away, but with the city crawling with bad guys, a few blocks might as well be a few miles.

Phoebe got up from her position on the ground in the alley.

'Might as well get going,' she thought. 'After all, I have nothing to lose, but my life.'

Somewhere in Venice...

Defoe was angry. And when he was angry, people vanished.

The brown haired man was not easily amused. And was quite short tempered. His brown eyes flashed behind his yellow-tinted glasses. His fingers traced his antique Apache guns. He took them out, admiring the beauty. He had the blades snicker out, enjoying the hiss. His guns always calmed him down.

"Sir, these kids are more resourceful than we expected," Grier, his right hand blond-haired blue-eyed man, said.

"I'd expect nothing more from kids that UNIA would want. So, just double our efforts. Find them, and kill whoever gets in our way," Defoe ordered.

"One more thing sir. The boy, Lok. is near us."

Defoe smiled, a wickedly vicious smile. "Then let's get him."

A Few Minutes Later...

Lok was running hard, trying to get away from the guys chasing him. Their guns were ablazing, lightning jumping around. He was lucky just to be alive.

"I knew we should not have split up," Lok muttered. He stopped at a wall to catch his breath, sure that his pursuers were not close.

But he was wrong as three lightning bolts hit the ground near him, one actually hitting a car, causing a huge explosion, flames hitting Lok's back.

Lok fell hard, but turned around to see the men advancing on him through the flames. Lok forced himself up and started to run. He turned the corner and came to a house. He went into the gate, and collasped, the pain too much.

The men came into the yard that Lok was in.

"Game over little boy," Defoe said. "You've reached the end of the line, and your life."


	4. Chapter 4

Fulminata:

Beginning Part 3

A/N: Again, besides Jane Eyre0, no else has reviewed for this story. I'm dissapointed in you. But, the past is the past. Again, if you think this story isn't good, tell me. So, let's get back to the action.

Venice, Italy, Third Person POV...

Lok had been in pain before. Once he had been hit in the head with the butt of a rifle, another time he had been thrown off of a cliff and belly flopped on the water twenty feet below. But this was different. His back was on fire, literally, his shirt ruined. His neck was burning, full of smoke. His eyes stung from smoke, dust and grit. It felt like his right shoulder bone had been bruised when he fell, his knee cut big time. He knew when he got the time to check he would have some interesting bruises.

"So are you ready to die boy?" asked the man behind Lok. Lok had already observed everything about him and he didn't look like a good guy. "If not, then it will be an unpleasant surprise."

"Excuse me gentlemen," came a voice from behind the suits. Lok and the suits turned to see a man walking through the front gate. He was tall and looked to be in his twenties. He had a goatee, and auburn hair. His eyes were hidden behind green tinted glasses. He looked like a P.I., dressed in a long tan trenchcoat, and khaki pants. Underneath his coat he was wearing a dark grey V-neck sweater that showed a lighter grey shirt. He radiated power and confidence. His mouth was played in a small little smirk that made his devil-may-care attitude even more obvious.

Defoe turned around at the voice, and gasped. His eyes went wide, then burned with anger. "You," he growled. "Dante Vale. Time for me to settle my score with you. Men, kill him!" The Suits turned to Dante, raising their guns. Dante smiled and as dozens of lightning bolts came at him, he jumped over them and landed next to Lok. He held out a hand, which Lok took, and he pulled him up.

"You okay kid?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Lok answered, swaying a little.

Dante smiled knowingly. "I'll fix you up, after I take care of my...unwelcome quests." Dante took out a gun from his jacket. It was a Colt Anaconda, the metal gleaming in the sun. As the Suits rushed Dante let loose with a few shots and several suits went down. Before anyone could react a Beretta 93R had appeared in Dante's left hand. The handheld machine gun came to life, bullets coming out of it rapidly. More and more Suits fell, most clutching their shoulders.

Soon there were no more Suits standing, Defoe and Grier all alone. Defoe snarled and began to back away, Grier following him. Dante smiled. "C'mon kid, let's get you inside."

Fifteen Minutes Later...

Lok was sitting across from Dante on the sofa in his living room. He had showered and changed his shirt with one of Dante's old ones. Same went for his jeans. After his shower he had told Dante the whole story, leaving out a few...uncomfortable details. Dante had listened intently, nodding along with the story. He never interrupted and didn't seem surprised.

"Lok, I have something you might want to see," Dante got up and walked into a side room. Lok followed and saw himself in an office like room filled with computers, books, and TV screens. Dante walked over to a cabinet, opened it and pulled out a manilla folder. He took a seat at a table while Lok sat across from him. Dante slid the folder to Lok. "Open it." Lok opened it and gasped.

There were twelve pages. The first one had a picture of Lok. Lok knew the scene the picture portrayed. He had went to Carnival with his friends. The picture showed him and his friends posing, their masks in their hands. He was smiling like a fool. Ethan should've been besides him, with Phoebe next to him. But the picture had been zoomed in on Lok's face. Lok knew that only him, Phoebe, and Ethan had a copy of that picture.

"How did you get that picture?" Lok demanded. Dante smiled.

"Lok, my organization has resources beyond your imagination. Read on." Lok continued to read. It said everything about him. His career, his missions, his recruitment by G2. Everything. On the second page was a picture Lok recognized. It showed him sitting down, smiling. It was his recruitment picture and only G2 had it. Again, Lok found himself wondering who Dante worked for.

"Who do you work for?"

"UNIA," Dante said. "United National Intellignce Agencies."

"You recruit people who wokr for Intelligence agencies? Why?"

Lok's phone buzzed before Dante could answer. Lok took the phone out and saw it was a message from Sophie and he read, then put his phone away. "Listen, can you also help my friends out, I think they might be in trouble."

"Sure, besides I have to find them too. But first, we'll have to escape." Dante had walked to the window and Lok joined him, seeing just about every Suit in Venice gathered outside.

With Ethan...

Ethan was confused. He hadn't ran into any Suits for over fifteen minutes. Maybe thy gave up. Or maybe they were after one of them in particular. And Ethan had a bad feeling it was a certain Irish boy.

"Lok," he muttered. "What have you gotten your self into?"

He started to run, even though he wasn't that far from Sophie's house.

At Dante's House...

Lok looked around the room he was in. It was an attic, and looked like no one had been in for ages. "Are we safe here? I mean, why don't they just break in?"

"UNIA has some nice security systems, and my house has some of the best. Defoe knows that, and he's no fool, at times," Dante said, smiling. Then there came a crash. "And apparently this is not one of those times." Lok looked out the window and saw a lightning bolt sprang up from the ground and hit the Suit who was advancing on the house. He was sent flying away. He hit the ground and didn't move. Lok was glad he was inside.

"Lok," Dante called his attention. Lok looked and Dante tossed him a gun. It was newly, German made Walther P99. Lok checked the clip, it was full. Dante tossed some extra ammunition and Lok put the in his bag. Dante opened a window and hopped onto the roof. He then jumped onto another roof and Lok followed. Then Dante did the most stupid-like thing ever, or so Lok thought, "I have to say gentleman," he called, "that collecting Suits is a hobby of mine." The group below turned to see Dante.

"What are you doing?" Lok whispered.

"My house may be invurneable, but my neighbors' aren't." Dante replied without moving his head. He then ran, with Lok following as scores of Suits followed them, shooting bolts of lightning as they scaled the walls.

With Ethan...

Ethan looked out over the city. He wondered where Lok was. He saw several flashes of light and heard a few explosions about three blocks away. He smiled. Lok was there.

Ethan tensed as he felt that he was no longer alone. He whirled around, his foot coming out for a kick when he saw...

Phoebe. He lowered his legs and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Took me long enough to find you," Phoebe said. "Maybe we should find the others."

Ethan turned back to the source of lights and explosions. "Well, Lok is easy enough. C'mon!" He and Phoebe began to run to where Lok and Dante where running for their lives. Meanwhile Sophie was doing the same.

Lok glanced behind and saw the Suits had fallen a bit behind. He looked back to what was ahead and stopped. Dante followed suit. Two figures were in front of them and walking closer. They stepped out of the shadows and Lok smiled.

It was Ethan and Phoebe. And then Sophie popped up behind them.

"Guys, you're alive!" Lok exclaimed.

"You too. Who's your friend?" Ethan said.

"My name's Dante, but we have to talk later. Now, we run. Follow me." Dante jumped off the roof and landed easily on the ground below. They followed him into a speedboat, which he hotwired.

"Are we stealing a boat?" Sophie exclaimed indignitantly.

"It's either that or death. I prefer the stealing to the dying," Dante said calmly. He started the boat and drove it down the waterway. While he was driving Lok brought everyone up to speed.

"Dante, are you looking for anyone else?" Ethan called through the wind.

"Yeah. Two teens named Alice and Tomas. Know 'em?" Dante replied.

Sophie nodded. "I know Tomas. He lives in a dorm not too far from here, maybe about five minutes. I'll give you the address."

"And I know Alice. She was going over to Tomas's," Phoebe said. Sophie put the address into the GPS and Dante followed it's directions to the area.

"What's special about all of us anyways?" Lok asked. He knew the answer for him, but not the others.

"All will be revealed," Dante said mysteriously. He stopped the boat. "Sophie, Phoebe. You go and tell Alice and Tomas to follow you out here. Do whatever necessary. Ethan, Lok and I will wait here." Phoebe and Sophie got out and ran into the dorm building. Five minutes later they came out with two more people in tow. One was a boy and he looked French. He was fifteen with pale skin. His hair was black, it hung down in fron of his eyes, which were green. He was tall for his age and was nicely dressed. He wore a crisp black shirt with designer jeans. He looked confused. The other person was a girl of around fifteen. She seemed to be part Asian, her eyes black in color and oriental. Her hair was raven black and had crimson streaks. On top of that she wore a baseball cap, a Yankees hat. She had a light grey T-shirt on with dark-wash jeans.

"What's going on?" the boy, Tomas, asked, his voice tinged with a slight French accent.

"Explain later. Get in," Dante said. "Please," he added at the look of stubborness on the boy's face. Alice hopped in along with Sophie and Phoebe. Tomas sighed and hopped in too, and the boat took off, heading towards Sophie's.

Alimos, Greece...

The man stared out the window. He had just recieved the message from one of his operatives. Dante had found all six of the recruits, but not without problems. Defoe had come after them, but luckily they survived. His goal was almost complete.

"Time for this storm to be blown away," the man said. A small smile played at his lips.


	5. Chapter 5

Fulminata:

Truth

A/N: Time to get this thing rolling. Thanks for the reviews. And please review more! Thank you.

Venic, Italy, Sophie Casterwill's House, Third Person POV...

The door to the house, if you could call the four story marble mansion that, opened and a man looked out. He was dressed in the traditional butler outfit, a black suit with a crisp, stiff white shirt under and a bowtie. He had dark grey hair combed back, and a slight pencil mustache. His grey eyes winded when he saw the group, all looking dirty and beaten up, except for Alice and Tomas, and partially Dante.

"My, my," he said, his British accent obvious. "Miss Sophie, what happened?"

Sophie looked at the group behind her. "It's a long story LeBlanche. But right now we need some rest."

LeBlanche opened the door and the group came in. "They may need a place to stay for the night LeBlanche. Can you have the guest rooms prepared?" Sophie asked her butler. He nodded and left to supposedly prepare the rooms. The group sat down heavily in chairs, the events of the day catching up with them.

Five minutes later LeBlanche came back with a tray of biscuits. He set it down along with a pot of tea and cups and left. The group ravenously set upon the food.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Lok. "We are being hunted by a crazy organization that wants us dead. So, going back to school isn't an option is it?"

"You're going back to school alright. The Suits won't make a move when you're surronded by people. The school's safe," Dante said. "Now we should all get to sleep. It's been a long day, and we could do with the rest."

LeBlanche appeared and gestured for everyone to follow him. "What about an explanation?" demanded Tomas.

"Tomorrow. For now, sleep," Dante said, ending the conversation. Halfway up the stairs Lok realized something.

"Tomorrow is exam day! And I didn't study!" he wailed. Ethan patted him on the shoulder.

"Cheer up, compared to fighting bad guys, a few tests should be a piece of cake, eh?" Dante smiled when he heard that.

The group dispersed to their rooms. Ethan, Lok, Tomas would have to share one while Alice and Phoebe shared theirs. Soon everyone was alseep.

The Next Day...

Lok awoke slowly. He hated waking up. It was like coming out of a warm bath, used to the warmth and finding the air outside freezing. It was hard to get used to and uncomfortable. When Lok finally came to he discovered a suit case and the foot of hs bed. He opened it up to see his clothes were in there. Lok checked to make sure Tomas and Ethan were still asleep, confirming they were. He grabbed some, the same he always wore, and went into the room's bathroom. He turned on the tub, letting it fill while taking off his ruined clothes, then sank into the warm water. It felt like heaven. He just lay there for a few minutes before he actually washed himself. Twenty minutes after he had entered Lok Lambert left the bathroom, looking very clean.

"Someone looks nice," he heard from the balcony. He went through the open door and found Ethan, also looking clean. He was sitting on the rail in a black, loose T-shirt and baggy khaki cargo shorts. His hair was still wet.

"How did you take a shower if I was-" Lok began before he was cut off.

"Main one. Now, let's get some food. I for one am completely starving." Ethan smiled and Lok did too. He and Ethan went downstairs and after five minutes of searching they found the dining room, already laid out with breakfast and Dante, Sophie, and Phoebe already there. Dante was dressed the same as we was last night, and the same went for Sophie, while Phoebe wore a red shirt advertising a band Lok had never even heard of, and a pair of jeans. Dante, who was sitting at the head of the table, looked up at Lok and Ethan and gestured for them to sit. Ethan and Lok sat down next to Phoebe and helped themselves to waffles, toast, eggs, and coffee.

Dante looked on with a hint of amusement as the two boys gorged themselves. Sophie found it hard to watch so she looked away, while Phoebe had to control herself from laughing.

Five minutes later, at 8:30, thirty minutes before school started, Alice came down, looking none the worse for wear. She wore the same cap and a T-Shirt advertising a band called Foster The People. Her jeans looked to be the same as the ones last night. Tomas came down after her wearing a green shirt with black jeans. He looked bleary-eyed.

After everyone ate Tomas asked Dante when they would learn the truth. "After school. I don't want you distracted during school," he said. He got up and then left. "Good luck on your exams."

After School...

Dante turned around as the students emptied out of the school. Tomas, Alice, Sophie, Ethan, Lok and Phoebe were all next to each other walking towards him. He could see them talking from here. "How were your exams Lok?" he heard Alice ask the boy, her New York accent out of place at the school.

"It was horrible!" Lok wailed. Dante heard that and it got his attention. "Horrifying, petrifying, terrifying!" Dante had reached the group, his face full of concern.

"What happened? Did Defoe make a move during class?"

Ethan laughed. "Nah. Lok here just had trouble with his exams."

"Trouble?" Tomas laughed. "From where I sat it looked like he had an heart attack!"

Lok scowled. "Yeah, let's all make fun of Lok."

Dante chuckled. "C'mon. We have things to do, and explanations to give."

At Dante's House...

The group was gathered around the coffee table in Dante's living room. Sophie, Tomas, and Alice on one sofa, Ethan, Lok, and Phoebe on the other, while Dante was relaxed in his armchair. Each one had a drink, Lok and Ethan a soda each, Sophie had tea along with Tomas, Alice had water, Phoebe had milk, and Dante had coffee. They were all tense, waiting for the explanations, while Dante was relaxed.

"So, Dante, where should we begin?" Ethan asked. He seemed to have taken on the role of the leader of the teens.

"First for me to tell the truth about me," Dante said. "All of you have to completely trust me, and each other. You have to believe me." He took a deep breath. "I work for AISE."

"AISE?" Phoebe asked.

"It's the Italian Agency for External Information and Security."

"You're a spy?" Tomas asked incredoulsy. "Yeah right."

Dante ignored him and looked at Lok. "Lok, why don't you tell everyone your secret?"

Lok grimaced. "Fine. I work for G2, the Irish Intelligence Agency."

Ethan smiled. "Well, if we're sharing secrets I'll go. I work for ASIS, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service."

"Seems like everyone here is a spy," Phoebe said. "Me included. I am employed by SÄPO, the Swedish Secret Service."

"The CIA, Central Intelligence Agency employs me," Alice admitted.

"SIS, MI6 division, has recruited me," Sophie said.

Tomas sighed. "And last of all I work for DGSE, the French Directorate-General for External Security. So is this why UNIA wants us?"

Dante smiled and nodded. "Yes. And tomorrow we leave for training. But now let's rest."

The Next Day, a Private Airport...

The group was gathered, their stuff being loaded onto a plane. They were almost ready to leave to the training area. None of them noticed Defoe and his group of Suits. Defoe smiled.

"Attack!" he ordered. Dozens of Suits charged towards the group. Dante whirled around, his Beretta in his hand like magic. The gun came to life as he attacked. Suits fell, but more shot bolts of lightning at them. The group scattered, with Ethan drawing his HK USP. Lok drew his P99, and the others went for hand-to-hand combat. Defoe advanced slowly on Dante, drawing two guns from his coat pockets. They were Apache handguns. The blades snicked out.

"Come on Dante. Me and you, mano-e-mano," Defoe said. Dante smiled and put the gun away and then rushed Defoe. He dodged the bullets, and then avoided the slash of the Apache's blade. Dante watched as a lock of hair was cut off of his head from the slash he just dodged.

"Not bad Defoe," Dante said. "Not bad."

Meanwhile Ethan challenged Grier. Grier was strong and incredibly fast. Ethan was finding it hard to keep up, but not impossible. Ethan landed from a flip and smiled. "You're good Grier. But I'm fifteenth dan, a black belt in karate, master in judo, and so and so forth."

"But that's nothing compared to me," Grier snarled. The two exchanged blow after blow while the other finished off the rest of the Suits.

"Dante!" Alice called. "We should go!"

Dante nodded and the kicked Defoe right in the chest, just missing the solar plexus. The kick had so much power that Defoe was sent flying. He rushed up and kicked Grier in the side, giving Ethan enough time to escape. The two ran for the plane, which had started to leave. Lok, Alice, Phoebe, Sophie, and Tomas were on the plane looking on with worry. Lok went onto the doorway and held out his hand for Ethan.

Ethan jumped for the plane. But alas, his hand just missed Lok's, but before he could fall, Tomas grabbed his collar, with both of them hanging out the door. Lok pulled them in and then Dante jumped in just as the plane took off.

Defoe watched the plane fly away and cursed. It was over, for now. But he would exact his revenge some other time, and it would be great.

A/N: As you can see, Santiago wasn't in the chapter. But he will make an appearance, probably as an instructor at the Academy. The Academy will be the main focus of the next chapter. Remember, reviews are greatly appreciated! And for an image of Defoe's guns go to my profile, there's a link.


	6. Chapter 6

Fulminata:

Gyaros

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've been busy with school. Anyways, time to get going on my next chapter of Fulminata. And most of the island's facts are right, I think. The island is real. Read and review please.

Third Person POV, UNIA Plane, Greek Airspace...

The group was moving quickly. After getting on the first plane they stopped at a remote airstrip and switched planes for a much more high-tech UNIA plane. And now they were heading towards Greece very quickly. The plane was very nice, with a few seats, a kitchen, even beds for sleeping. The sitting area was equipped with a TV, with every channel in existence avaiable.

Lok was currently in the kitchen, sipping at a plastic cup of water. He was sort of half listening to the conversations, a bad habit of his. Phoebe and Alice were talking about something involving guys, and dances. Or so Lok thought.

Lok found himself studying the two girls. Phoebe he had known for almost as long as he had known Ethan. But Alice was new. He had seen Alice at school, but had never known her name. She was very quiet, and never talked much, except when told to, and even then she was quiet. Lok thought she radiated something, something unexplainable. He averted his gaze when she turned towards him. She left the room, going to another cabin.

That's when Lok heard Tomas. "This thing couldn't have happened at a better time," he heard Tomas say quietly to himself. "With me spending time with Sophie, well it's only a matter of time. Like I have anything to worry about..." Lok had left the room. He had heard enough.

"You okay?" Lok looked up to see Ethan standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Fine," Lok said, his voice low.

"No you're not Lok," Ethan said. "One, you have a crushed plastic cup in your hand," Lok looked down, surprised to see it there. He threw it out while Ethan continued, "two, you're quiet, and three, you look unhappy. I've known you for too long for you to fool me Lok."

Lok smiled weakly. "This whole thing just has me messed up."

"What, G2 didn't assign you dangerous missions?"

"None like these. The bad guys know have guns that shoot lightning Ethan!"

Tasers can do that-"

"No, they don't. Tasers are essentially two darts attached to wires shot out of a gun into the victim, with voltage going through them, creating a spark, shocking the victim. These guns shoot _bolts_ of electricity."

Ethan conceeded. "Fine, fine." He opened the fridge and threw Lok a bottle of iced sweet tea. He grabbed a root beer, getting rid of the cap and taking a large swig. "Good luck Lok."

Lok wandered into the next room, confused at what Ethan meant, finding Alice wearing glasses, on a laptop. She looked up and smiled as a greeting. "Hi Alice," Lok said. "You wear glasses?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Just for certain things, like reading small things. That's it. How are you though?"

"Fine, I guess. You?"

Alice smiled stunningly. "Great."

Lok nodded and then Dante called for everyone to gather. Lok and Alice went into the main room. Everyone was gathered around Dante, who had a laptop out. He opened it up.

"Dante where are we going?" Tomas asked.

Dante smiled. "Patience Tomas, patience. But once again to recap. UNIA is the United National Intelligence Agencies. And you all were recruited for specific reasons. But I'll let the Chairman explain all that. And then there's the whole thing with Defoe."

"Who does he work for?" Lok asked.

"Legio Duodecima Fulminata."

"What?"

"The Twelfth Legion," Sophie said, "Armed with Lightning. It's the name of a Roman Legion."

"Right. But we call them more commonly the Organization."

"What do they want?" Phoebe asked.

"Rome ruled most of the known world for a while," Dante began. "But then they fell and is now a city and tourist attraction in Italy. But the Organization wants to return the Legion to it's former glory."

"They want to rule the world?" Ethan asked.

"Yes. And they won't stop at anything to do it.'

"But where are we going?" Tomas asked.

"We are going to Gyaros. Sound familar?"

Lok, Phoebe and Alice shook their heads while Tomas, Ethan, and Sophie thought. "Wasn't it a Greek naval base?" Sophie asked.

Ethan snapped his fingers. "Yeah. But before it was a place for exiles. It's supposed to be pretty harsh."

"Used to that's true," Dante said. "But UNIA bought in 2003, and quickly made it one of their main bases of operations. We adapted it quickly. It became closed to the public and we built new buildings. It's the area for trainees to be trained."

"But what if the Organization finds it?" Tomas asked.

"The island is heavily protected. Satellites take info on any plane, and see if it is registered with our system, and if it is, it's fine. But if it's not, then we either tell them to leave, or shoot them down. We have a defense system for boats, which I won't go into." Dante said.

"So we are fine right?" Alice asked.

"Yes. This plane is registered."

"And we're going there to be trained?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, but the Chairman will explain everything. And he will soon, cause we're about to land."

The plane began to descend, the landing strip visible. But it was nothing like a normal landing strip, and the descending was different. The landing strip was short and the plane went straight down, like a helicopter. Outside the plane the two engines moved, so they were pointing straight down. The plane hovered, and as the engines slowly let up the plane descended till it touched down. Everyone exited the plane to find themselves on a barren looking island. The buildings they could see looked old and crumbling.

"Where is everyone?" Ethan asked.

"Follow me and you'll see," Dante said, heading towards a building. It was old and crumbling, most of the walls gone. Dante knelt on the floor inside and hooked his finger in a notch on a floorboard, almost invisible. He pulled and the floorboards began to disappear, retreating into hidden compartments. Stairs unfolded, leading into the darkness below. Dante went down the stairs while everyone followed, Phoebe at the end. When Phoebe was low enough the hole closed itself. The stairs were enveloped in darkness. Dante touched a stone on the wall and lights flicked on, revealing that they were in a small tunnel made out of rough stone.

And right in front of them was an minecar.

It rested on a track that ran down the whole tunnel. It was larger than most minecars. In the front was a seat in front of a computer screen, and the seats were on the side. It was tall and had a small step stair connecting to it. Dante hopped in and gestured for the others to come in as well.

"Buckle up," he said. Everyone sat down, but before they could buckle Dante hit a few switchs and the car started. It moved extremely fast, throwing everyone back. Lok and Alice were thrown next to each, their hands clasping through reflex actions. Everyone's world was dissolved into a world of rushing wind. A sharp turn came up and Ethan gasped, knowing that they would tip. He tried to tell Dante, but his voice was ripped away by the wind. Dante smiled and pressed a button, and the turn came and went, the minecar almost horizontal, but nothing bad happening.

Within what felt like seconds it was over. The car came to a halt, throwing everyone forward. Dante hopped out, and the group slowly got out, Alice and Lok still holding hands. When they saw this, they let go out of embarrassment.

They walked till they reached a dead end. But before anyone could say something, Dante hit a stone, and the wall crumbled. As they stepped through it, it began to reform.

"This is the real center of Gyaros." Dante said, raising his arms up. They were in an hollow mountain, roads with minecar tracks curling up and down, with dozens of dozens of rooms. People buzzed around like ants, the cars zipping by. "Welcome to the center of UNIA!"

A/N: This chapter is, as you probably figured out, just about the island and a sort of intro to their training. The training will be next chapter, and will hopefully be good. Remember, please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Fulminata:

Training

A/N: Alright, I'm on a roll, and nothing is going to stop me! So, now they actually train, which will hopefully be more interesting than it sounds. So get ready for, Training!

Gyaros, Greece, Third POV...

The group marveled at the feat before them. A hollow mountain, full of light and people. But before they had time to fully comprehend this, they were in another mine car, blasting off to somewhere. That location was soon revealed to be the very top of the hollow mountain. They exited and followed Dante into the room in front of them. It was well lit, and looked like an office of a high ranking business man. One wall was covered with bookshelves, the other had a few paintings, one that looked like an authentic Van Gogh, while the wall opposite was all windows. The desk in the center was made out of walnut wood, and commanded total attention. But the man sitting in the leather chair behind it commanded more attention.

He was in his mid-forties, and his hair was graying. He wore the expensive suit on his body like it was jeans and a T-shirt. His face was young looking, but the eyes were that of a person who had saw and did many things, some terrible. They were a bright viridian color. They watched as the new occupants stood by. A smile was on the man's lips. "Good afternoon everyone. I suggest you take a seat," he said, waving his hand at the chairs in front of the desk. Once everyone sat he smiled again. "How are you all? Dante?"

Dante smiled. "I'm good Chairman. How are you?"

The Chairman smiled. "I'm fine Dante, I'm fine." He turned to the others. "I bet all of you are wondering what you are doing here."

Tomas nodded. "You could say that, yeah."

"Well, first, I'm sure you all know you are here for training," he began. "But I don't think any of you know what the training entails." He got up and paced. "Here on this island, life is tough. I'll be honest. So everyone works to make sure life goes on as normal. So that's what you all will be doing for four weeks. You will work and live like everyone else on this island. After two weeks are over, you will begin your training at nights, and we'll go into that as time goes on."

"But what about school? If we're here for a month how are we expected to get the job done? You can't expect us to beat the Orginization in two months." Ethan said.

The Chairman nodded. "Yes, that would be unreasonable. That's why I decided to call in some favors." He smiled and a twinkle came in his eyes. "Our organization has a lot of weight with certain people. One of these people work for your school. They have agreed to give you two extra months, till November, before you come back. The only deal is that you have to keep up with your lessons."

"How are we supposed to do that while we're fighting bad guys?"

"You are not doing it. Our people will do the work for you occasionally, and we'll send lessons to your computers. Trust me, it could be worse. If worst comes to worst we'll send six agents to impersonate you guys. Trust me, our agents could easily do that. That satisfy you?" Ethan nodded. "Good. Now then, you will start tommorrow. Your work schedule will be given to you in the morning. Wake up at six. That is all. Oh," he said, as if a sudden thought came into mind, "I almost forgot. You all were chosen for your special abilities, abilities that will become clear over the next few days." The Chairman turned and sat down in his chair, and looked out the window. The group left. They were showed to their accomodations, a nice cabin on the beach with two bedrooms, each with three beds, two bathrooms, a living room with a large plasma TV, a kitchen, and a porch overlooking the ocean with lounge chairs and a hammock. Their things were all inside.

"I call this room!" Ethan yelled, running into one.

"Ethan, we have to share!" Lok yelled, running into the cabin, "Boys in one room, girls in the other!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Ethan said, now in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge and cabinets. "Now then, did anyone else notice the grill outside? And the water looks lovely, not to mention the sunset. Anyone else up for a good old fashioned Aussie barbecue?" Everyone shouted their consent. Soon they were eating outside, enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs cooked up by Ethan and soda, not to mention a lot of swimming, splashing, and such. They went to bed exhausted and happy.

Next Morning, 6 A.M...

Ethan, Lok, and Tomas struggled awake, and when they were concious enough they noticed the pieces of paper on their nightstands. It was their schedule.

(A/N: I'm going to be talking about a period of two weeks now, so bear with me) Ethan and Lok left to the farms and worked there in the morning, hoeing, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. They talked to the other workers and got to breakfast exhausted. They sat with the others, and ate and talk, complaining of Sophie's easy schedule and having a good time. Ethan and Lok, who had identical schedules, then they went to the mines and worked there, hammering away at rocks and collecting ores and such. Then they had lunch. After lunch they went to the water system, traveling the tunnels beneath the tunnels, checking on the water pipes and such. Then dinner at 6, then they went back to the cabin, and slept.

Over the next two weeks they continued this schedule working hard. Lok came to enjoy the physical labor, and following Ethan's example ran in the mornings. To him this was relaxing, the rhymth of the work easy to adapt to. He appreciated the genuis of the plan that the Chairman had. The labor was training within itself, helping them get into shape much faster. The work was also nice as he got to know the others on the island. He made friends fast.

That's when the training began. On weekdays they would work till lunch, then do training with their teachers. Each person would go to different teachers to work on their specialty.

With one week left...

Lok is working on something outside. Ethan walked outside and notices him. "What are you doing Lok?" Lok looked up and noticed him.

"Oh, nothing really," Lok said, "Just some homerwork." With this he smiled.

"Can I see?" Lok nodded and passed him the paper. Ethan reads it over and a look of confusion comes over his face. The page is full of numbers and equations. "What is this?"

"A code."

"Well, how are you supposed to crack it?" Ethan asked. Lok smiled.

"Easy, I'll show you." He took the paper back and montioned Ethan over. He began to explain the code to Ethan, and the art of code cracking. "You see, a lot of codes have a phrase that repeats in all of the coded messages. Once you know that decoded, you can figure out the rest of the code easily."

"So what's this code? And how do you solve it?" Lok began to explain everything to Ethan.

"Last week I spent the time learning about a bunch of different codes. This is a code used by the Secret Service of the United States. It's one of the hardest codes to crack in the world. Their agents spend a long time learning how to decipher it, and they have advanced computer systems to crack it instantly."

"And solving it?"

"It's certainly hard. But not impossible. See this?" Lok pointed to a number. "It's repeated a lot through the whole message. Now, knowing that, we can figure it out. It's the letter 'e', because 'e' is the most used vowel in English, written." Lok went on and on, but Ethan did not get it much. Eventually he told Lok so.

"I may not get this, but it's impressive that you do Lok. How long did it take you to solve it?"

Lok smiled sheepishly. "Ten minutes."

Five minutes later they were walking inside when they saw Tomas and Sophie. They were talking, or so it seemed at first. But it then was revealed that Sophie was teaching Tomas to speak a language, and he was catching on quickly. "So what are you two studying?" Ethan asked.

"Me?" Sophie asked. "I'm studying memorization, improving my memory. Part of that is learning how to imitate voices and behaviors of a people."

"I'm studying disguises, how to change my appearance and language easily." Tomas said, taking some photos out of his pockets. He laid them out. "This is some of my work."

Ethan and Lok examined the pictures. "No way this is you!" Lok exclaimed. The picture showed Alice on the beach.

Tomas smiled. "It is me. Granted, I'm not great at imitating voices, that's what Sophie's teaching me."

"Are you good at that Sophie?" Ethan asked.

"Of course I am," she said, but her voice sounded like Lok's, and it was creepy.

"Wow," Ethan said. "I guess we'll leave you to it." Ethan and Lok moved on.

"What are you training for Ethan?" Lok asked.

"Combat. They're trying to sharpen my combat skills, which is ridiculious."They kept walking till they reached the girl's room, where Alice was sitting, typing on a laptop, while another was closed besides her. She looked up when they entered.

"Lok, Ethan," she greeted. "Ready to test out my new program?"

Lok nodded, but look confused. "I thought Phoebe was in here with you?"

"I am," Phoebe said, appearing seemingly from nowwhere. Lok looked startled but Ethan merely smiled. But now I'm leaving to get a snack, maybe even take a nap. See you guys later." The Swedish girl left the room.

"You have the code Lok?" Alice asked.

"Yep," he answered, taking a piece of paper from his pocket. "Right here." Alice took said code and scanned it into the laptop.

"Alright, we're just about ready."

"What are you guys doing?" Ethan asked.

"Alice made a computer program that can supposedly crack any code faster than anything else. I helped a bit, but now she wants to test it against me. And I love a challenge." Lok said, cracking his knuckles. He picked up a digital timer. "I'll be on the porch. I'll stop my timer when I'm done, but you guys get me when you're done." Lok left the room.

"Ethan can you check when he's ready?" Alice asked, clicking a few keys, and opening a window with the code written. Ethan nodded and went to the door and looked out.

"Ready Lok?" he called.

"Ready!" came the reply.

"Go!" Ethan yelled. Alice hit a few keys and her program started, the computer plugging in random numbers and letters. Ethan walked over, looking at the program. A bunch of grids were being thrown over the code, and other, complex things were happening. "How exactly does this work?"

"Well, Lok explained to me about different types of codes. Ever heard of the Trimethius Tableau?" Ethan shook his head. "It's a grid of 26 rows and 26 columns. The first row starts with A and goes to Z, and the same goes for the first column. Then the second column and row starts with B and ends with A, and so on and so forth."

"So, how does coding messages work?"

"You chose a letter, than use the row that begins with that letter and code the message as it appears. Or you could use a key word. So, say your key word is 'Lok' and your message is 'Hi Ethan'. So for h, you go to the l column, and see what corresponds to h. Then O for I, and K for E."

"But then you're out of letters for the key."

"Yeah, but then you start back at L and keep going. So your code would be Sw Oevky."

"Neat, but how fast is your computer program?" Ethan asked, noticing that fifteen minutes have passed.

"Incredibly. I 'borrowed' some ideas from the CIA's, had Lok help me with inputting different ways of encoding messages, and I used my own ideas. Let me show you." Alice took a piece of paper with a code on it. "This code would take about four minutes in the CIA program. But mine will take less time." She put the code into the program on the second laptop. Within a few seconds the code was completely decoded.

"Neat." Twenty minutes have passed, and still the program ran. Sometimes it started over for a part, sometimes the whole thing. The grids still appeared, Alice explained that they were representing Cardano Grilles, pieces of cardboard with holes in random places where the message is written in the holes, the blanks replaced by regular talk or random letters to fool anyone who intercepted it. Then, at the forty-five minute mark, the code was solved.

"Finally," Alice sighed. "Lok wasn't kidding when he said it was a hard code to crack."

"Let's see how he's doing," Ethan suggested. They left the room and walked to the porch. There they found Lok asleep on the hammock. Alice saw the paper on the table and checked it.

"It's all right!" She cried.

Ethan picked up the timer and looked at the time. It read fourteen minutes 47 seconds. He showed it to Alice. "He finished in less that a third of the time it took your program to finish it."

Lok woke up and looked at the two of them sleepily. "Took you guys long enough." He yawned. "Look's like you need some more work on your program huh Alice. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going back to sleep."

Last Day...

On the last day of their stay on Gyaros, the group decided to throw a party. So, with everyone in their bathing suits, a campfire, and Ethan cooking up a storm, not to mention a huge cooler filled with a ton of drinks, they swam, ate, and had a good time. Meanwhile in the Chairman's Office, something entirely different was happening.

"How are they all doing?" he asked the group assembled, the kid's teachers.

"Lok is doing good," said a tall man with a Scottish brogue and red hair.

"Explain if you will Mr. Thelo," the Chairman said.

"Well, Lok is a genius sir. A genius. On the first day he aced every code I threw him. Just aced them. But when we moved on is when his true potential showed. I gave him a code commonly used by the CIA. It took me months to crack. Lok finished it in about fifteen minutes. Same with all the others. Not only that, but he was shown tremendous aptitude with any form of mathematics, solving problems on the board for my class easily, problems that are very, very difficult even for one such as myself. I dug up some information. One time he visited the college his dad taught mathematics at. While there he saw a problem on the board outside the hall, left as a challenge by one of the math teachers. He solved it very quickly, surprising everyone, because none of the college students could solve it. I wished I could keep him here and really use his abilities, but alas."

"Thank you Mr. Thelo. Mr. Tsai, do you have something to say about Ethan?"

"Indeed I do," said a small Japanese man. "Ethan is nothing short of a prodigy. After doing some simple training I pitted him in a battle against three other students armed, while he was unharmed. Within a couple of minutes they were out, and he never took a blow. Same happened with four, five, six, and even nine. So then I pitted him against twelve enemies, three graduates and nine students. Within five minutes they were down, Ethan I believe taking again no blows. So I increased the number of graduates to six and six students. Same happened. The most amazing thing though was when he fought nine graduates and three students. I have the disk." He put it into a DVD player and a screen flickered to life on the windows. It showed Ethan, unarmed, standing in the middle of a circle of twelve adults, each one armed. As the fight began, Ethan was a blur, dodging the attacks. He took out one of the students easily, then another, and the last one went down. Now he just faced the nine graduates. Soon another one went down, then a second. He attacked one, dodging a blow at his chest, and taking a graze in the shoulder from stave. With a devasting kick the graduate was down. Then another went down. And finally the fifth one. But the fight was just beginning, as the only ones left were the best. One jabbed at him, but he sidestepped, jumped, and kicked the stave up in the air, catching it. He responded as soon as he touched down by lashing out with his foot, hitting the man in the solar plexus and launching him back. He followed up immediatly by jabbing the next man in the chest, disarming him, and hit him in the side of the head. Ethan and the last remaining graduate went head to head with staves. But it quickly became obvious that Ethan was more expierenced and finished him. "I think the disc speaks volumes," Mr. Tsai said.

The Chairman nodded. "Ms. Khlive? What of your pupil?"

Ms. Khlive was a small, young looking, and pretty French woman. "Tomas has shown tremendous potential and skill. He has learned much, including multiple languages. In tests he has learned how to disguise himself as almost anyone, including people much shorter than him. That is really all I have to say."

"Mrs. Yem?"

A young Filipino woman stood. "I have to admit, Sophie has shown amazing ability. Her memory surpasses many, many people. She is able to quote long, lenghy, complex passages and text that she read five days ago. Not only that, but her imitation skills are tremendous. She can sound like anyone if she heard them speak once. And her intellect is great as well. Really, I don't know how to sum it up."

"Ms. Owens? What say you?"

Ms. Owens was revealed to be a tall American woman with blond hair. "I say Alice is the best pupil that I've ever had. She posses an unnatural ability with computers. It's almost like she has the ability to talk to the computers. She not only can hack through most firewalls, correction all firewalls that I've given her to break through. And she can make programs that work much faster than anything I've seen. If I could, I would love to keep her and really test her abilities."

And finally the last person made himself known. Mr. Refre stood. He was a black haired Russian man. "Let me start off by saying this; Phoebe is the best pupil I've had, and will probably ever have. No matter what enviroment, no matter what security and survalleince I set up, she slips by it like it doesn't exist. The cameras never catch, nor do guards or even dogs. She's learned how to adapt remarkably to the enviroment. If it's a forest, she's gone. City, gone. Starch white hall, still very well hidden. She is like a true ninja and is even better than me."

The Chairman nodded. "You all are dismissed." The group left. "If they are that good, then perhaps it is time to test their skills."


End file.
